Mid-Atlantic States
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Regional definitions vary from source to source. The states shown in dark red are usually included, while all or portions of the striped states may or may not be considered part of the Mid-Atlantic. |
The
Mid-Atlantic region of the
United States of America traditionally refers to that section of the
Atlantic Seaboard between
New England and
the South.
In recent years, the popular usage has also included the
Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area with the growing economic integration of that region into the
Northeast Corridor.
Definitions of the Mid-Atlantic region usually include the following states:[
1]
*
New York*
New Jersey*
Pennsylvania*
Delaware*
Maryland*
Virginia*
West VirginiaThese areas provided the young United States with
heavy industry and served as the "melting pot" of new
immigrants from
Europe. Cities grew along major shipping routes and waterways. Such flourishing cities included
New York City on the
Hudson River,
Philadelphia on the
Delaware River, and
Baltimore on the
Chesapeake Bay.
The region is among the most ethnically-diverse regions in the country--let alone the world. Large populations of
African-Americans,
Hispanics,
Asians,
West Indians,
Arabs, and
Europeans reside and continue to come to the Mid-Atlantic states.
Historically
Maryland and
Delaware were considered part of the
Southern United States due to their
Slave state status and the
Census Bureau still places them in that region. However, due to their higher levels of
urbanization and industrialization they are now usually considered part of the Mid-Atlantic. Southern influence has waned considerably in Delaware and the urbanized portions of Maryland, but remains present in parts of rural Maryland, especially the state's Eastern Shore.
The same could be said for
Virginia and
West Virginia which are often placed in this region as due to their geographic position. The
EPA and
USGS both include those states in their respective Mid-Atlantic administrative regions.
From early colonial times, the Mid-Atlantic region was settled by a wider range of European peoples than in New England or the South. The
New Netherland settlement along the Hudson River in New York and New Jersey, and for a time
New Sweden along the Delaware River in Delaware, divided the two great bulwarks of English settlement from each other. The original English settlements in the region notably provided refuge to religious minorities, Maryland to
Roman Catholics, and Pennsylvania to
the Friends and the mostly Anabaptist
Pennsylvania Germans. In time, all these settlements fell under English control, but the region continued to be a magnet for people of diverse nationalities.
Early settlers were mostly farmers and traders, and the region, called the
Middle Colonies, served as a strategic bridge between North and South.
Philadelphia, midway between the northern and southern colonies, was home to the
Continental Congress, the convention of delegates from the original colonies that organized the
American Revolution. The same city was the birthplace of the
Declaration of Independence in
1776 and the
U.S. Constitution in
1787.
Like
New England, the Mid-Atlantic region has seen much of its heavy industry relocate elsewhere. Other industries, such as drug manufacturing and communications, have taken up the slack. Most of the nation's television stations are stationed in the Mid-Atlantic, as well as many of the insurance, medicare, and business corporations in
North America.
*
List of regions of the United States*http://geology.er.usgs.gov/states/mid_atl.html
